


Taking Root

by cuethesun



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Day 01: Earth, First Meetings, KuroDai Week 2020, M/M, gardener au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24049546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuethesun/pseuds/cuethesun
Summary: Maybe there were some advantages in being a hopeless city boy.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 54
Collections: KuroDai Week 2020





	Taking Root

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first entry for KuroDai Week 2020! The theme for Day 01 was Earth/Sky, and I chose Earth. This fic takes place in a community vegetable garden; in some cities in Japan, people make these gardens on station roofstops and other spots that are easy to access. You rent a small plot and you can plant what you want there, and, for an extra fee, take advice from professional gardeners in site.

There was nothing quite as disappointing as getting definite evidence you were a hopeless city boy.

OK, so he might’ve been exaggerating a little… but, as Tetsu inspected the tomato plant, his frustration was true enough. The leaves were full of holes, _again;_ this had been going for weeks now, and he was no closer to figuring out how to fix it. He’d tried all the things he could think of — watering more, watering less, natural and inorganic fertilizer —, and, what do you know, nothing had worked.

He was beginning to suspect it might be a bug. Or a disease.

Which he had no idea how to identify.

In the only plant in his rented plot of earth.

He sighed.

"It’s gonna be relaxing, they said,” he grumbled, plucking off the dead leaves. “It’s so _simple,_ they said. I swear to God, the next time I see Yaku I’m hitting him in the _face_ with tomato—”

“…Uhhh, do you need help?”

Tetsu turned.

The sun was shining directly on his face, so he had to cover his eyes a little — but, when he did, it took no more than a second to register the golden skin, and the muscled arms, and the lines of _amazing_ legs accentuated by a pair of faded jeans. It took him even less time to sum that all up and realize the man in front of him was _hot._

Unfortunately, it did take him a bit longer to realize he was being talked to.

“Are you OK?” The man had kneeled down at eye level, now, his (very pretty) face laced with worry. “Do you have a fever?”

“…What?” And apparently Tetsu’s failure at plant management was translating into other aspects of his life. “Oh! No, no, no. I’m alright. Just — fine.”

There was still some doubt in the man’s expression. “Are you sure? I can grab you some water.”

“I’m sure, thanks.” Fuck, his face was burning. “It’s — it’s this little guy here who’s sick, I think.”

“Oh? May I see it?”

Tetsu was about to nod, but then his mind finished registering the picture: the man’s apron, the clunky gloves, the garden apparels stuffed in the pocket, the name tag with ‘Sawamura’ written in tidy hiragana. “Wait, wait!”

Hot gardener — Sawamura — sent him a bemused look, and, Christ, why couldn’t a hole open under a guy’s feet when he needed it. 

“I’m paying the basic fee — not that I don’t want the help!” he added, ‘cause Sawamura’s eyebrows had gone almost all the way to his hairline. “I really do, but I’m not paying the extra fee for consultants, although I’m going to as soon as — what I mean is, you probably should, I don’t know, help someone else—”

Tetsu could probably have kept going — he was saying the truth, after all — but Sawamura’s snort took the wind off his sails _._

“Oh, I think we’ll be fine.” Before Tetsu could protest, he made a show of looking both sides, one hand raised to cover his mouth. “I don’t think anyone else needs me right now, so I won’t say anything if you won’t.”

And he _winked._

Tetsu could almost feel his thoughts turning into mush.

There wasn’t a lot of time to dwell on that, because Sawamura was gathering the plucked leaves in his hands, examining them against the light. Crouched like this, the apron revealed a pair of thighs that could probably kill him if their owner was inclined to. It wouldn’t be a bad way to die. 

“Mister – I’m sorry, your name is—”

“Oh, Kuroo. Kuroo Tetsurou.” He extended his hand, but the gardener’s still had leaves inside, so their handshake wound up a bit more viscous than it should.

To his credit, Sawamura took it in stride. “How long has this been going on?”

“A couple of weeks.”

“Have you noticed anything else?”

“Not really, no? Nothing I can recognize, at least.”

“…I think I know what’s wrong.”

“You do?”

In lieu of answering, Sawamura leaned over the tomato plant and delved into the foliage — only to come back with a huge, green _thing,_ full of _legs_ , wiggling helplessly in his hand as he threw it in a pot.

“Found the culprit!” he announced with a sunny smile.

Tetsu tried to say something; what came out of his mouth was something more like a squeak.

“They blend in with the leaves, that’s probably why you didn’t see it,” Sawamura kept going, apparently not noticing Tetsu’s stomach rolling a few feet away from him. He plucked another — _another_ — giant caterpillar from the stem, then started examining the other branches. “I think I caught them all.”

“Thank God,” Tetsu said, his voice more than a little relieved. “Should I — should I try an insecticide? Or something?”

Sawamura looked at him, then at the pot, where the two caterpillars were writhing together. “Honestly, it’s going to be easier on your plant if you just remove them manually.”

Manually. With his own hands.

Tetsu never felt more like a city boy in his life.

It must have shown in his expression, because Sawamura’s face was back to worried again — but, before he could say anything, they were interrupted by a shout of “Daichi! Help me here please!”

“I’ll be right there!” his savior/gardener said, and just… took off. Without even saying goodbye.

 _Well, at least I know his full name now._

The caterpillars were still there, still icky, and Tetsu had a thought to spare as to what he should do with them — maybe put them in Bokuto’s salad when he wasn’t looking? —, but, well… that was _his_ tomato plant, right? Taking responsibility for it was the least he could do. 

(Plus Akaashi would murder him. And then Kenma would inherit the plant by default.)

(The poor thing.)

He was watering the roots with fertilizer — seriously, the water-soluble ones were the best of two worlds — when he heard a noise from his left, and turned to see Sawamura, kneeling next to him with another pot in his hands.

“Hello again,” and there was that _smile._

He couldn’t be blamed for being happy at the sight of it, could he? “Hello again, my knight in shining apron.”

That brought up a flush of red to Sawamura’s cheeks; Tetsu felt it burn inside his own chest. “I — I got you something,” the gardener said, handing over the pot.

The plant in it was small, with glistening green leaves; when Tetsu got a little closer, he found the scent familiar.

“Is that basil?”

“Yep,” Sawamura said, his smile wider now. “It’s a natural repellent. If you plant it close to your tomatoes, you won’t have to worry too much about bugs. Plus, it tastes _great_ in tomato sauce.”

“I bet it does,” Tetsu said, with little input from his brain.

And, with even less input:

“I have a really good recipe for Italian pasta, if you want to know.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, with tomato sauce, basil, mushrooms.” Oh, God, he couldn’t even raise his eyes. Why was he so bad at flirting when he really meant it. “You haven’t lived till you’ve tried it.”

“I — I see.”

“If you want to, I could — I could cook for you? As thanks?” At this point, Tetsu risked a glance.

Sawamura’s face had gone from slightly flushed to beet red, his hands inside the apron pocket. “I didn’t — I don’t need any thanks, you know.”

Tetsu couldn’t stop his grimace — oh God, _why_ — until the notepad and the pen were pushed into his hands.

“It does sound tasty, though.” Sawamura sounded a little bashful. “And I want to see how your gardening will turn out. So — if you want to exchange numbers—”

“Of course! I mean,” and the effort to look suave was probably wasted, but no one could say he didn’t try, “I’ll be delighted to have your company.”

And it was corny as hell — and no one else would be able to pry it off him with a crowbar —, but, as he took in Sawamura’s answering smirk, he could almost feel something _blooming_ inside of him.

Maybe there were some advantages in being a hopeless city boy. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've taken a bit of an Artistic License here in regards to that kind of caterpillars, in that they're not native to Japan. 
> 
> My Tumblr is @altumvidetur, if you want to see some fic recs. Please check everyone's works in @kurodai-week!


End file.
